ADDRESS  v 


OF  THE 


CITIZENS'  ASSOCIATON 

Of  New- York 
TO   THE  PUBLIC. 


HISTORY  OF  ITS  WORK— THE  DEPARTMENT  OF 
DOCKS— THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH— 
THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT; 


RESTING  INFORMATION  FOR  IIU'liWTS  AND  TAX-PAYERS. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  ASSOCIATION. 
April,  1871. 


IE*  ICthrtfi 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"  Ever'tbinQ  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

CITIZENS'  ASSOCIATION 

Of  ISTew-York, 
TO  THE  PUBLIC. 

HISTORY  OF  ITS  WORK— THE  DEPARTMENT  OF 
DOCKS— THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH— 
THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

INTERESTING  INFORMATION  FOR  MERCHANTS  AND  TAX-PAYERS. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  ASSOCIATION. 
ArRiL,  1871.  - 


CLASS  U 


i 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/addressofcitizenOOciti 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

Citizens'  Association 

TO  THE  PUBLIC. 

 m  

Citizens'  Association  of  New-York,  ) 
813  Broadway,  > 
March  10th,  1871.  ) 

The  Citizens'  Association,  while  steadily  pur- 
suing the  objects  for  which  it  was  formed,  has  en- 
countered opposition  at  every  step.  Some  of  the 
accusations  against  it  have  carried  with  them  their 
own  refutation;  and  others  have  been  disproved  or 
retracted.  The  rest  must  be  decided  by  the  recent 
political  history  of  the  City  of  New-York,  and  the 
labors  and  achievements  of  the  Association ;  and  to 
these  the  Association,  tenacious  of  the  public  confi- 
dence which  it  has  always  received  and  endeavored 
to  deserve,  turns  for  the  vindication  of  its  course  and 
for  support  in  its  present  and  future  efforts. 

The  Citizens'  Association  was  organized  in  the  year 
I863,  to  undertake  the  task  of  regenerating  our  City 
Government. 

At  first  an  effort  was  made  to  gain  reform  through 
the  ballot  box,  by  uniting  the  law-abiding  elements  of 


4 


the  community  in  a  reform  party.  Meetings  were 
held  in  every  ward ;  millions  of  documents  were  dis- 
tributed, but  party  lines  were  too  strictly  drawn.  The 
masses,  both  Democratic  and  Republican,  followed 
their  party  leaders,  and  tested  the  candidates  for  city 
office  not  by  their  ability  or  integrity,  or  experience 
in  municipal  affairs,  but  by  their  opinion  upon  ques- 
tions of  national  politics. 

The  attempt  to  establish  a  great  Reform  Party 
failed,  but  from  it  the  Association  gained  experience 
which  has  proved  invaluable,  and  by  it  party  leaders 
were  taught  a  profitable  lesson- 
Abandoning  a  policy  thus  proved  impracticable, 
the  Association  entered  the  field  in  which  it  has  ever 
since  labored.    Its  work  was  two-fold. 

The  sagacity,  experience  and  professional  skill  of 
the  leading  men  in  every  calling  were,  employed  in 
planning  and  securing  wise  and  far-reaching  reforms 
in  legislation,  while  continued  and  fearless  vigilance 
invoked  the  aid  of  the  Courts,  the  press  and  public 
opinion  in  enforcing  honesty  and  economy  in  the  ex- 
ecution of  law. 

The  Legal  Board  devoted  its  attention  to  plans  for 
improving  the  laws  governing  the  City,  and  its  sug- 
gestions have  been  gradually  adopted  by  the  Legis- 
lature. The  Sanitary  Bureau  made  a  most  careful  and 
laborious  examination  of  the  condition  of  the  City, 
and  its  work  culminated  in  the  establishment  of  our 
admirable  Board  of  Health. 

Bills  to  inaugurate  a  comprehensive  system  of 
Docks  and  a  new  Fire  Department,  and  to  effect  an 


5 


improvement  in  our  School  System,  the  abolition  of 
the  Board  of  Supervisors  and  a  change  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  City  finances,  and  the  imposition  and 
collection  of  taxes,  were  presented  to  the  Legislature 
after  the  most  thorough  preparation.  Some  of  these 
reforms  have  been  effected;  others  must  yet  engage 
the  eiforts  of  the  Association  and  all  friends  of  good 
government. 

Meanwhile  the  administration  of  municipal  affairs 
was  vigilantly  watched.  Dishonesty  was  exposed. 
Accounts  were  examined.  Delinquent  officials  were 
arraigned  before  the  Governor  and  the  Courts.  Liti- 
gations were  carried  on  with  varying  success. 

Every  year  the  officers  and  counsel  of  the  Associa- 
tion attended  before  the  Legislature  at  Albany,  to  urge 
the  adoption  of  reforms  and  to  discover  and  defeat 
every  scheme  of  plunder.  Their  efforts  procured  in 
the  annual  Tax  Levies  reductions  which  in  no  year 
amounted  to  less  than  $2,000,000.  Thus  the  Asso- 
ciation furnished  to  our  upright,  law-abiding  citizens 
a  means  of  expressing  their  approval  of  wise  and 
honest  measures,  and  their  disapprobation  of  the 
partisanship,  and  selfishness  which  at  one  time 
characterized  our  Municipal  Government. 

The  success  of  the  Association  shows  the  influ- 
ence which  intelligence  and  integrity  must  exercise 
where  they  have  opportunity  to  act. 

When  the  Legislature  of  1870  met,  grave  fears 
were  entertained  lest  in  a  general  remodelling  of  the 
City  Government,  many  of  the  reforms  which  had 
been  secured  by  years  of  effort  might  be  lost.  That 


0 


danger  was  avoided,  and  the  Association  desires  to 
repeat  the  assurances  given  at  its  general  meeting  last 
April,  of  its  approval  of  the  system  of  government 
established  by  the  new  charter  and  the  accompanying 
acts  to  regulate  elections  and  to  abolish  the  Board  of 
Supervisors,  a  system  which  the  City  owes  to  the 
almost  unanimous  vote  of  both  parties  in  the  Legis- 
lature. 

The  Association  has  already  pointed  out  in  detail 
the  advantages  of  our  present  charter,  and  has  shown, 
that  while  conforming  to  the  principle  of  local  self- 
government  and  increasing  the  power  of  the  Executive, 
it  retains  all  the  advantages  derived  from  the  Metro- 
politan Commissions,  and  the  organization  of  per- 
manent Bureaus. 

The  Association  has  congratulated  the  public  upon 
the  union  of  the  City  and  County  Government,  the 
consolidation  of  the  Street  Department  and  the  Cro- 
ton  Acqueduct  Department,  the  establishment  of  the 
Department  of  Docks,  and  the  numerous  other  re- 
forms inaugurated  by  the  Charter. 

The  value  of  the  new  municipal  system  can  only  be 
fully  tested  by  time.  As  yet  the  administration  of  those 
branches  of  the  City  Government  in  which  the  public 
had  the  greatest  confidence,  such  as  the  Department 
of  Police,  the  Department  of  Charities  and  Correction, 
the  Fire  Department,  the  Health  Department,  the 
Department  of  Taxes,  has  lost  nothing  of  its  efficiency. 

The  Commissioners  of  Parks  have  extended  to  all 
our  public  places  the  policy  which  in  the  Central  Park 
has  been  so  successful  and  popular.    The  affairs  of  the 


T 


Croton  Acqueduct  are  managed  by  the  Department  of 
Public  Works  as  economically,  and  in  consequence 
greater  simplicity  of  organization  more  efficiently 
than  at  any  former  period. 

The  Commissioners  of  Docks  while  engaged  in 
planning,  with  all  the  assistance  that  science  and  ex- 
perience can  give,  a  system  of  wharves  and  piers 
worthy  of  our  metropolis,  have  administered  with 
prudence  and  integrity  the  work  of  repairing  and 
regulating  the  existing  structures  on  the  water  front. 

All  of  the  Departments,  and  the  government  of 
which  they  form  a  part,  are  entitled  to  a  fair  trial ; 
and  the  Association  earnestly  deprecates  unreasonable 
and  undiscriminating  attacks  having  nothing  in 
common  with  the  criticism  of  true  reform,  which, 
however  severe,  should  be  unprejudiced  and  impartial. 

In  the  Departments  of  Public  Education,  of  Health, 
of  Taxes,  of  Docks  and  of  Parks,  members  of  the 
Association  are  enabled  to  aid  in  enforcing  the  mea- 
sures of  reform  which  they  have  urged  on  others. 

Such  is  the  brief  outline  of  the  history  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, At  first  it  sought  to  drive  partizanship  from 
the  administration  of  city  government,  to  confine  both 
political  parties  to  their  proper  province,  and  to  induce 
men  to  decide  municipal  questions  in  accordance  with 
municipal  interests  alone. 

Failing  in  this,  the  Association  sought  to  gain 
public  measures  of  utility,  and  the  correction  of 
abuses,  without  contending  against  party  organizations 
which  it  could  not  resist. 

It  advocated  reforms,  and  when  they  were  adopted 


s 


by  the  party  in  power,  gave  its  hearty  co-operation  in 
carrying  them  out.  Whichever  party  was  able  and 
willing  to  introduce  reform,  received  in  that  reform 
the  aid  of  the  Association. 

That  such  a  course  would  provoke  attack  was  to  be 
expected.  When  the  Association  urged  the  establish- 
ment of  Metropolitan  Commissions  it  was  abused  by 
Democratic  journals,  which  have  since  urged  the  re- 
tention of  the  essential  features  of  those  very  com- 
missions. On  account  of  its  approval  of  the  present 
charter  the  Association  has  been  bitterly  assailed  by 
Republican  papers  which,  when  not  excited  by  the 
partizan  feeling  evoked  by  a  political  contest,  have 
themselves  approved  that  charter. 

The  taxpayer  judges  the  changes  in  the  City  Gov- 
ernment on  their  merits,  and  not  on  those  of  the 
parties  who  make  them. 

During  the  last  year  an  organized  effort  has  been 
made  to  check  the  corruption  and  mismanagement 
which  have  prevailed  in  our  Canal  administration,  and 
to  call  back  to  New-York  the  trade  which  was  rapidly 
slipping  away  from  it.  With  the  co-operation  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  Produce  Exchange 
the  Citizens'  Association  founded  "  The  Commercial 
Union  of  the  State  of  New-York,"  in  which  are  en- 
rolled the  friends  of  Canal  Reform  throughout  the 
State. 

It  employs  in  State  affairs  the  methods  which  the 
Association  has  so  effectually  employed  in  local 
matters. 

For  a  great  measure  of  reform  now  under  dis- 


9 


cussion  the  Association  invites  popular  support. 
The  passage  of  the  Tax  Levy  Bill,  now  before  the 
Senate,  limiting  taxation  to  two  per  cent,  upon  a  val- 
uation already  fixed  will  tend  to  a  wholesome  public 
economy,  by  restraining  extravagance  in  municipal 
expenditure,  and  by  checking  wasteful  and  wrongful 
appropriations.  It  will  fix  responsibility  where 
power  already  exists,  and  save  millions  annually  to 
the  people, 

In  its  past  history  the  Citizens'  Association  finds  an 
earnest  of  its  future  success.  Its  work  has  not  become 
less  arduous  or  less  important  by  reason  of  the  pro- 
gress already  made. 

Its  mission  is  to  watch  the  operations  of  the  new 
Municipal  System  and  to  advocate  the  improvements 
in  it  which  time  will  suggest,  to  check  the  growth  of 
the  City  Debt,  to  secure  economy  in  expenditure,  and 
thus  render  possible  the  reduction  of  taxation,  to  abolish 
sinecure  offices,  to  devise  some  escape  from  the  heavy 
burden  of  assessments,  to  use  every  means  to  diminish 
the  cost  and  increase  the  efficiency  of  our  government — 
in  a  word,  to  devise  a  municipal  system  so  broad  as  to  be 
adapted  to  the  future  growth  of  our  City,  so  philoso- 
phical that  progress  and  reform  may  spring  from  regu- 
lar development,  and  not  be  merely  the  result  of  un- 
reliable and  spasmodic  effort. 

The  laws  relating  to  the  opening  of  streets,  and  to 
assessments  for  that  class  of  improvements,  have  not 
been  changed.  They  are  old  statutes,  which  the 
amended  charter  did  not  affect.  The  recent  case, 
which  causes  so  much  excitement,  is  a  proof  that 


10 


amendments  in  those  laws  should  be  sought,  and  that 
some  means  should  be  devised  to  correct  abuses  in 
their  administration. 

Steadily,  earnestly  and  boldly  the  Association  has 
pursued  its  labors,  caring  for  every  interest  involved 
in  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  our  Metropolis. 
Progress  has  characterized  every  year  of  its  existence. 

Every  citizen,  however  humble,  has  the  deepest  in- 
terest in  the  successful  prosecution  of  its  great  work, 
which  will  only  be  finished  when  every  important 
wrong  is  righted,  and  science,  art  and  skilled  ability 
control  all  branches  and  departments  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  City  of  New-York. 


„  GO 


SAMUEL  SLOAN, 
SAMUEL  WILLETS, 
COURTLANDT  PALMER, 
J.  PIERREPONT  MORGAN, 
RICHARD  MORTIMER, 
CHARLES  TRACY, 
CYRUS  CURTISS, 
JOHN  H.  SHERWOOD, 
JOHN  A.  WEEKS, 
WM.  L.  JENKINS, 
MURRAY  HOFFMAN, 
WM.  H.  GUION 
JOSEPH  STUART, 
DANIEL  PARISH, 
PAUL  N.  SPOFFORD, 
MOSES  G.  BALDWIN. 


11 


PETITION  OF  PROPERTY-OWNERS 

IN  FAVOR  OF  THE  BILL  LIMITING  TAXES  IN  NEW-YORK  CITY 
TO  TWO  PER  CENT.  UPON  THE  BASIS  AS  NOW  FIXED  FOR 

1871: 

New- York,  March  lstj  1871. 

To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of 
New-  York  : 

The  undersigned,  who  are  interested  in  the  reduction  of 
taxation  in  the  City  of  New-York,  either  as  property- 
owners  or  rent-payers,  believing  that  the  passage  of  the 
bill  now  before  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New- York, 
entitled,  "  An  Act  to  provide  for  the  Government  of  the 
City  and  County  of  New-York,"  of  which  bill  a  copy  is 
annexed  to  this  petition,  would  effect  a  limitation  of  taxa- 
tion, an  economy  in  expenditure,  and  would  check  the  in- 
crease of  the  City  and  County  Debt,  respectfully  petition 
the  Honorable  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New-York, 
that  the  bill  may  at  an  early  day  become  a  law. 

EDWIN  HOYT,  JOHN  Q  JONES, 
ROBERT  LENOX  KENNEDY,        GEORGE  S.  COE, 

SETH  B.  HUNT,  MORRIS  K.  JESUP, 

JACOB  D.  VERMILYE,  THOMAS  H.  FAILE, 

CHARLES  TRACY,  WILLIAM  H.  MACY, 

RICHARD  MORTIMER,  PETER  COOPER, 

PETER  GILSEY,  ANTHONY  HALSEY, 

BENJAMIN  B.  SHERMAN,  BOB'T  H.  LOWRY, 

MURRAY  HOFFMAN,  SAM'L  W.  BARNARD, 

JOHN  BRIDGE,  EDWARD  N.  TAILER,  Ji>., 

DANIEL  PARISH,  MOSES  G.  BALDWIN, 

HENRY  IVISON,  ANDREW  V.  STOUT, 

CYRUS  CURTISS,  EMIL  SAUER, 

SAMUEL  V.  HOFFMAN,  HENRY  A.  BURR, 

COURTLANDT  PALMER,  HARRIS  COLT, 

WILLIAM  H.  LEE,  WILLIAM  THOMSON, 

WILLIAM  T.  BLODGETT,  WM.  ALEX.  SMITH, 

JOHN  A.  WEEKS,  ALEXANDER  GILBERT, 


12 


*  SPOFFORD  BRO'S  &  CO., 
J.  &  J.  STUART  &  CO., 
W.  &  J.  SLOANE, 
A.  A.  THOMSON, 

HERRING,  FARREL  &  SHERMAN, 
GEO.  D.  H.  GILLESPIE, 
WILLIAM  H.  GUION, 
ROBERT  MACKIE, 
ANDREW  GILSEY, 
WILLIAM  L  JENKINS, 
WILLIAM  A.  BOOTH, 
REUBEN  W.  HOWE, 
EDWARD  MATTHEWS, 
JAMES  M.  CONSTABLE, 
H.  S.  TERBELL, 
GABRIEL  MEAD, 
J.  R.  ST.  JOHN, 
JAMES  STOKES,  Jr., 
W.  W.  DkFOREST  &  CO, 
ANSON  PHELPS  STOKES, 
PARKER  HANDY, 
CHARLES  LANIER, 
JAS.  C.  HOLDEN, 
H.  H.  CAMMANN, 

daniel  m.  edgar, 
wm.  m.  vermilye, 
a.  b.  Mcdonald, 
crowel  adams, 
thomas  j.  powers, 

JOHN  M.  BURKE, 
GEORGE  W.  KITTELLE, 
R.  LUVENTHAL, 
A.  D.  VAUGHN, 
WM.  HOCTER, 
S.  P.  SMITH, 
D.  BURRELL, 
F.  BARCKLAUSEN, 
J.  C.  WHITING  &  CO., 
CHAS.  DUBOIS, 
PHILLIP  E.  BOG  ART, 
D„  S.  HILLYER, 
J.  S.  MOONEY, 
THOMPSON  &  BENSON, 
FREDERICK  ALLEN, 
H.  WALLER, 
CHAS.  E.  HAWLEY; 
P.  BALEN  &  CO., 


DAVID  THOMSON, 
FREDERICK  MARQUAND, 
ISAAC  SHERMAN, 
R.  J.  THORNE, 
FREDERICK  D.  TAPPEN, 
ROBERT  JAFFRAY, 
FREDERICK  H.  COSSITT, 
WILLIAM  OOTHOUT, 
EBENEZER  MONROE, 
RICHARD  ARNOLD, 
RICHARD  BERRY, 
DAVIS  COLLAMORE, 
THOMAS  BARRON, 
WM.  E.  DODGE,  Jr., 
SAMUEL  WILLETS, 
ROBERT  BAYLES, 
J.  PIERPONT  MORGAN, 
ROBERT  CAMPBELL, 
RICHARD  P.  BRUFF, 
A.  ROBERTSON  WALSH, 
J.  M.  CRANE, 
A.  R.  FROTHINGHAM. 
JOHN  H.  CHEEVER, 
HENRY  A.  PATTERSON, 
ADAM  NORRIE, 
CHARLES  BUTLER, 
CHARLES  N.  TALBOT, 
WM.  BLOODGOOD, 
ROBERT  DILLON, 
WILLIAM  H.  FOGG, 
O.  W.  LEONARD, 
WM.  T.  CHURCH, 
WM.  D.  HARRIS, 
JAMES  RICE, 
THOS.  L.  JONES, 
W.  J.  SANFORD, 
WM.  CHURCHILL, 
S.  D.  LOCKWOOD, 
JOSEPH  E.  BROWN, 
OGDEN  E.  PARKER, 
EMMET  WELLS, 
MORGAN  GRAY, 
CHARLES  B.  LEIGH, 
CHARLES  S.  TAYLOR, 
C.  J.  DEWITT, 
W.  H.  COVERT, 
A.  D.  PUTNAM, 


13 


D.  P.  BENSON, 
P.  S.  MARCH, 
MICHAEL  COONE Y, 
J.  A.  BONN, 

S.  M.  H.  BOND, 
W.  M.  BURDGE, 
JACOB  SCHOLLER, 
GEO.  KISSAM, 
W.  H.  FARLER, 
W.  H.  ERWIN, 
P.  M.  HARDER, 
T.  C.  FAXON, 
H.  M.  POTTER, 
H.  N.  ORMSBEE, 
HIRAM  YOUNG, 
JAMES  H.  TYLER. 
W.  H.  GILSON, 
L.  J.  N.  STARK, 

E.  DUSENBURY, 
ROBT.  BLARUKE, 
P.  M.  WHITE, 

H.  A.  CUPPIER, 
J.  E.  DICK,  4 
GEO.  JENNISON, 
J.  M.  MATHEWS, 
GEO.  C.  HERKIMER, 
JAS.  BIRDSALL, 
H.  N.  STEBBINS, 
H.  WRIGHT, 
FOSTER  J.  WEEKS, 
J.  FRANK  EAGLES, 
C.  T.  IXSLEE, 
N.  ANDREWS,. 
AKIN  &  BURNETT, 
J.  WM.  DEARING, 
RUNYAN  PYATT, 
J.  A.  STEXXOON, 
A.  R.  GRAY, 
E.  M.  SERGEANT, 
A.  McNICKEL; 
CHAS.  S.  BRYCE, 
JOHN  H.  HAYWARD, 
R.  COLE, 

HENRY  F.  ROLLINS, 
EDWARD  H.  GREENE, 
C.  S.  J.  SEYMOUR, 
WM.  H.  WILLIS, 


H.  HERMEBUGER, 
A.  D.  PUTNAM  <&  CO., 
H.  N.  HOLT, 
M.  M.  CALEB, 

E.  B.  BROOKE, 
W.  T.  SATERLY, 

F.  M.  LAWRENCE, 
W.  F.  TOMPKINS, 
THOS.  KENNY, 
RALPH  MEAD,  Jr., 
EDWARD  HYDE, 
H.  SEYMOUR, 
THEO.  F.  HAY, 
JOHN  KUNARD, 

G.  W.  GREENE, 
W.  R.  GREENE, 
C.  E.  BIGELOW. 
ABENDROTH,  BROS., 

H.  F.  MILLER, 

JOHN  SAVERY'S  SONS, 
E.  F.  HOLBROOK  &  BROS., 
ALFRED  H.  HILDRICK, 
J.  R.  VAN  NEST, 
CHARLES  W.  RUSSELL, 
JAMES  ALLEN, 
W.  A.  PERRY, 
N.  F.  THORPE, 
L.  P.  ECKER, 
JAS.  McGRADY, 
A.  M.  DOWNING, 
E.  H.  RUTON, 

A.  JACOBS, 
O.  D.  PECK, 

B.  F.  CLARK, 
W.  WISDOM, 
H.  SNELL, 

G.  H.  PECK, 

W.  R.  WOODWARD, 

R.  F.  BUSH, 

W.  H.  ALLEN,  Jr., 

ROTHLISBERGER  &  GERBER, 

EDWD.  J.  HOLDEN  &  CO., 

A.  HALSEY, 

CHAS.  E.  WARD, 

JAMES  TURNER, 

JAMES  F.  CLARKE, 

DAVID  PRINGLE, 


NICHOLAS  L.  CARL, 
CLARK  P.  CARL, 
S.  M.  WILLIAMS, 
J.  F.  WATERS, 
W.  D.  FISKE, 
FRED  S.  NYE, 
CHAS  P.  BARNETT, 
JOHN  D.  PRICE, 
J.  C.  CORNELL, 
ALBERT  B.  WALDRON, 
GEO.  HARVEY, 
BENJ.  F.  TEALL, 
J.  COOK, 

WM.  BUD  WORTH, 
'  THOS.  CALLAHAN, 
HENRY  THOMPSON, 
JCHN  G.  ROTH, 
HENRY  BUTLER, 
WM.  RAYNOR, 
ROB'T  L.  YOUNG, 
EDWARD  C.  ELLIOTT, 
CHARLES  H.  GOING, 
ROB'T  J.  NORMAN, 
B.  S.  H.  GOOD, 
JOHN  S.  HARDENBURGH, 
GEO.  H.  CORFIELD, 

JAS.  R.  WILLIAMSON, 

J.  N.  BROWN, 

S.  H.  DAVIS, 

J.  R.  ESTELL, 

SAM'L  B.  POTTER, 

CHAS.  E.  POTTER, 

E.  B.  ELY  &  CO., 

E.  A.  PACKER, 

F.  T.  ROBINSON, 
S.  Y  .  FORM  AN. 
CHAS.  RUNYAN, 
F.  J.  PORTER, 

S.  H.  CALDWELL, 
E.  ALLISON, 
JAMES  S.  COX, 
A.  VAN  ARSDALE, 
BENJ.  B.  WOOD, 
C.  C.  LASH, 
J.  C.  CRANE, 
C.  CRONKITE, 


E.  WILSON, 

R.  S.  CURTIS, 

THOS.  WEDDEL  &  CO., 

W.  H.  TRACY, 

P.  H.  BETTS, 

W.  SUNDMACHER, 

J.  P.  CAREY, 

GOFF  &  SMITH, 

JAS.  C.  GRAY; 

THEO.  HADDEN, 

J.  M.  AT  WATER  &  BRO., 

BERNARD  SMITH, 

H.  E.  AT  WATER, 

GEO.  F.  MANNING, 

HAMMITT,  NEIL  &  CO., 

J.  GEORGE  REPPLICK, 

FRANK  HARRIOTT 

ROB'T  GORDON, 

HARVEY  CONRAD, 

WM.  WILSON, 

F.  P.  WHITE, 

WM.  M.  DAVIDSON, 

ROB'T  K.  BUCKMAN, 

W.  H.  MEEKER, 

JAS.  E.  BRISLER, 

M.  C.  R.  MARTIN, 

W.  G.  WELLS, 

RICH'D  HECKSCHER,  Jit., 

FRANK  WALTER, 

H.  HOWLAND, 

JNO.  NAGLE, 

FRANCIS  M.  WELD, 

THOS.  J.  ATWOOD, 

JOHN  W.  ATWOOD, 

HENRY  E.  BOWERS,  ] 

S.  A.  LAST, 

GEO.  H  LASH, 

N.  WETTS, 

SAMUEL  G.  FRENCH, 

TREDWAY  &  WELLS, 

J.  G.  MOODY, 

JOHN  W.  ANDREWS, 

H.  A.  ACHTERNACHT, 

N.  P.  IIOSACK, 

E.  D.  DUNSGOMB, 

A.  F.  JAYNE, 


15 


GEO.  MERIWEATHER, 

JNO.  P.  ABIES, 

JOHN  PRESTON, 

GEO.  TUTHILL, 

EDWARD  GALLAGER, 

SAMUEL  CASTNER, 

I.  L.  SHANER, 

CHARLES  A.  SWARTHOUT, 

C.  C.  PECK. 


I.  W.  MERINGER, 
HAMMETT  &  POTTER, 
A.  J.  HAMMETT. 
H.  D.  HARNGE, 
AS.  R.  CRANE, 
HENRY  MEYER, 
P.  M.  VERPLANCK, 
M.  B.  HEILNER, 


The  following  is  the  bill  above  referred  to  : 

"  An  act  to  make  provision  for  the  local  government  of  the 
City  and  County  of  New-  York. 

"The  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in 
Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows : 

"  Sec.  1.  The  amount  to  be  raised  by  tax  upon  the 
estates,  real  and  personal,  subject  to  taxation  in  the  City 
and  County  of  New- York,  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy-one,  and  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and 
seventy-two,  shall  not  exceed  in  the  aggregate  in  each  of 
said  years  respectively  a  sum  equal  to  two  per  cent,  upon 
the  valuation  of  such  estates  now  fixed  for  the  year  eighteen 
hundred  and  seventy-one  by  the  Commissioners  of  Taxes 
and  Assessments. 

"  Sec.  2.  From  the  sum  so  raised  in  each  of  said  years 
shall  be  paid  all  the  expenses  of  the  city  and  county  gov- 
ernments for  all  their  departments  and  purposes  for  each  of 
said  years,  and  also  the  interest  on  the  city  and  county 
debts,  the  principal  of  such  debts  falling  due,  and  the  pro- 
portion of  the  State  tax  payable  by  said  city  and  county  in 
each  of  said  years  respectively;  and  no  liabilities  shall  be 
incurred  for  any  purpose  in  either  of  said  years  which  shall, 
with  the  State  tax  for  such  year  and  the  principal  and  in- 
terest of  the  city  and  count3r  debts  payable  in  such  year, 
make  the  aggregate  of  the  expenses  of  the  city  and  county 
governments  together  for  each  of  said  years  amount  to  more 
than  two  per  cent  upon  the  valuation  aforesaid. 


16 


"  Sec.  3.  Within  twenty  days  after  the  first  day  of  June, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one,  the  following 
persons,  namely : 

u  The  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New- York, 
"  The  Comptroller  of  the  City  of  New-York, 
"The  Commissioner  of  Public  Works, 
"  The  President  of  the  Department  of  Public  Parks, 
shall  meet  as  a  Board  of  Apportionment,  and  after  setting 
apart  so  much  of  said  sum  to  be  raised  by  tax  in  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one,  under  this 
Act,  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  payment  of  the  interest  on 
the  bonds  and  stocks  of  said  city  and  county,  which  shall 
become  due  and  payable  from  taxation  in  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one,  and  for  the  pay- 
ment of  so  much  of  the  principal  of  said  bonds  and  stocks 
as  may  become  due  and  payable  from  taxation  within  said 
year,  and  also  so  much  as  may  be  necessary  to  pay  the  pro- 
portion of  the  State  tax  to  be  paid  by  the  City  and  County 
of  New-York  in  said  year,  shall  apportion  the  remainder 
thereof  among  and  set  apart  to  the  various  departments 
and  purposes  of  the  city  and   county  government,  by 
the  concurring  votes  of  the  majority  of  the  members  of  said 
Board;  and  on  the  first  day  of  June,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-two,  said  Board  shall  meet  and  set 
apart  and  apportion  in  the  same  manner  the  sum  to  be 
raised  pursuant  to  this  Act  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-two ;  and  said  Board  shall  have  the 
power  in  each  of  said  years  to  limit  and  transfer  appropria- 
tions which  are  found  to  be  in  excess  of  the  amount  re- 
quired or  deemed  to  be  necessary,  to  such  other  purpose 
as  they  shall  find  to  require  the  same. 

"  Sec.  4.  No  bonds  and  stocks  of  the  City  or  County  of 
New-York,  except  those  authorized  to  be  issued  by  direc- 
tion of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund,  and  revenue 
bonds  issued  in  anticipation  of  the  taxes  of  the  current 


17 


year  shall  be  hereafter  issued  except  by  the  concurrence 
and  authority  of  a  majority  of  the  persons  mentioned  in 
the  third  section  of  this  Act  (in  addition  to  the  authority 
now  required  by  law),  and  unless  public  notice  has  been 
given  in  five  of  the  daily  newspapers  published  in  the 
City  of  New-York,  of  the  time  and  place  when  the  said 
persons  mentionad  in  section  three  of  this  Act  will  meet  to 
consider  the  propriety  of  issuing  the  amount  and  kind  of 
said  bonds  or  stocks,  and  unless  a  notice  of  the  amount  and 
special  purpose  of  the  bonds  and  stocks  to  be  issued  has 
been  first  advertised,  after  such  concurrence,  for  ten  clays 
in  five  of  the  daily  newspapers  published  in  the  City  of 
New- York. 

"  Sec.  5.  No  liability  for  any  purpose  whatever  shall  be 
hereafter  incurred  by  any  department  of  the  City  of  New- 
York,  or  officers  of  the  County  of  New- York,  exceeding 
in  amount  the  appropriation  made  for  such  purpose;  nor 
hall  the  City  or  County  of  New-York  be  held  liable  for  any 
indebtedness  so  incurred. 

"  No  judgment  against  the  City  or  County  of  New-York 
shall  be  paid  unless  an  appropriation  has  been  made  for  the 
same,  and  no  judgment  shall  be  entered  up  hereafter  against 
the  City  or  County  of  New-York,  except  upon  a  verdict  by 
a  jury ;  and  all  actions  or  proceedings  in  which  the  Mayor, 
Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  City  of  New- York  are 
plaintiff  or  defendant  shall  have  a  preference,  and  may  be 
moved  out  of  their  place  in  the  calendar. 

"  Sec.  6.  This  Act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 


IS 


The  following  articles,  from  the  Evening  Post,  contain 
information  in  detail  relative  to  several  of  the  City  Depart- 
ments : 

THE    DEPARTMENT    OF  DOCKS. 


THE  DOCKS  OF  NEW-YORK. 
A  HISTORY  OF  THEIR  MANAGEMENT. 

The  position  and  natural  advantages  of  New- York  are 
unrivalled  among  the  cities  of  the  world.  It  lies  at  the 
confluence  of  two  broad  and  deep  rivers,  the  one  extending 
a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  almost  in  a  straight  northerly 
line,  amid  scenery  and  landscape  beauty  unsurpassed  by 
that  of  any  of  the  rivers  of  the  old  world  ;  the  other  extend- 
ing along  its  entire  eastern  side  out  into  Long  Island 
Sound,  which  runs  an  equal  distance  eastward  with  the 
Hudson  on  the  north.  The  whole  shore  on  both  sides  of 
this  beautiful  expanse  of  water,  if  not  equal  to  the  Hudson, 
is  rich  in  scenery,  and  embraces  some  of  the  most  fertile 
lands  of  the  Atlantic  border.  With  a  noble  bay  of  deep 
water  lying  at  its  southern  apex,  capable  of  holding  the 
navies  of  many  countries;  with  Staten  Island,  having  a 
fertile  soil,  an  elevated  and  beautiful  topography,  and  an 
area  adequate  to  twenty  thousand  ornamented  villa  sites, 
lying  like  a  jewel  on  the  bosom  of  this  bay ;  with  sixty- 
miles  of  water  front  within  ten  miles  of  its  centre,  with 
great  salubrity  of  climate,  with  suburbs  of  great  fertility 
and  health  fulness  of  soil,  and  a  natural  beauty  and  capacity 
for  landscape  art  within  a  circle  of  twenty-five  miles  and  a 
railway  time  of  forty-five  to  sixty  minutes,  it  has  advan- 
tages such  as  almost  no  other  city  of  the  world  presents. 
With  a  topography  of  its  own  so  rare  and  fortunate  as  to 
admit  of  the  most  perfect  drainage,  and  with  a  landscape 


19 


art  in  its  parks  such  as  few  continental  cities  can  rival ; 
with  no  excessive  depth  of  rising  and  falling  tides  ;  with 
no  quicksands  and  rapid  currents  to  endanger  the  solidity 
and  permanency  of  well-built  docks  ;  its  entire  water  front 
of  nearly  twenty  miles  in  extent  is  susceptible  of  a  system 
of  docks,  piers  and  warehouse  improvement  not  exceeded 
by  those  of  Liverpool,  London,  Havre  or  Cherbourg.  In 
all  this  her  position  is  equally  fortunate,  and  designates 
New- York  as  the  centre  and  seat  of  an  immense  commerce. 
But  the  first  principle  lying  at  the  foundation  of  this  great- 
ness is  that  on  the  proper  and  liberal  development  of  its 
water  front  depends  the  prosperity  of  every  large  commer- 
cial city.  This  subject  is  not  one  of  merely  local  import- 
ance. It  demands  the  highest  concern — the  protection  and 
wisdom  of  State  authority.  It  his  also  a  great  national 
importance. 

SOME  GLIMPSES  OF  HISTORY. 

New- York  City,  in  its  early  history,  received  the  follow- 
ing important  grants  : 

From  the  Dongan  charter  in  1686,  all  wharves,  docks  and 
waste  lands  of  the  Island  at  that  time  to  low-water  mark. 

In  1708,  from  Queen  Anne's  charter,  all  lands  between 
high  and  low-water  mark  on  Long  Island  from  Wallabout 
Bay  to  Ked  Hook. 

In  1730  the  Montgomery  charter  gave  to  the  city  four 
hundred  feet  beyond  low-water  mark  from  Corlears  Hook 
to  Whitehall,  on  the  East  Eiver,  and  around  to  Bestaver's 
Killitie,  so  called,  on  the  Hudson.  In  1826  the  Legislature 
gave  authority  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Land  Office  to 
grant  this  four  hundred  feet  beyond  low-water  mark  to  the 
city,  from  Corlear's  Hook  to  Harlem  Eiverr  and  from  Best- 
aver's— about  the  point  of  Fourteenth  Street — on  the  Hud- 
son, four  miles  north  to  Spuyten  DuyviL    In  1852  the  Leg- 


20 


islature  established  an  exterior  line  in  Harlem  Eiver  from 
the  East  Eiver  to  the  Hudson,  and  vested  in  the  city  all  the 
land  between  this  line  and  low-water  mark,  thus  completing 
the  right  of  the  city  to  lands  under  water  around  the  entire 
Island — all  these  grants  subject  to  the  public  right.  These 
are  freeholds  of  immense  value. 

During  this  long  period,  thirty-five  to  forty  legislative 
acts,  and  decisions  of  our  court,  under  them,  have  given  va- 
lidity to  these  grants.  The  city,  as  a  person,  in  its  corpo- 
rate capacity,  has  granted  a  large  amount  of  these  water 
rights  to  private  individuals.  The  entire  control  of  the 
public  right  rests  always  in  the  Legislature  to  delegate  it, 
as  by  the  Act  of  1870,  creating  a  Dock  Commission  to  con- 
trol and  use  it  for  the  best  interests  of  commerce,  having 
due  regard  always  to  the  rights  of  individuals. 

There  are  now  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  piers  around 
the  whole  Island.  Sixty-four  of  these  are  owned  by  the 
city  and  individuals  together — the  city  one  side,  and  the 
private  owner  the  other  ;  and  sixty-four  or  more  are  owned 
by  individuals.  As  the  shores  and  small  inlets  have  been 
filled  out  by  dumping,  and  the  necessities  of  commerce 
have  grown  rapidly,  the  larger  portion  of  these  piers  extend 
beyond  this  line  of  four  hundred  feet. 

We  have  now  at  least  five  classes  of  piers  :  those  within 
and  those  beyond  this  line  ;  those  owned  by  the  city,  and 
those  held  by  joint  ownership,  and  others  where  the  right 
of  soil  under  water  has  been  given  to  owners  beyond  this 
line.  A  more  recent  Act  of  the  Legislature  has  fixed  an  ex- 
tension line,  beyond  which  piers  cannot  be  extended. 

While  our  commerce  was  growing  to  great  magnitude  and 
value,  this  various  ownership,  many  leases  made  under  it, 
unwise  administration,  and  the  conflicting  interests  which 
grew  out  of  all  this,  tended  directly 'to  the  neglect  and  decay 
of  our  wharfs  and  piers.  This,  and  the  effect  of  the  war 
upon  our  shipping,  so  reduced  the  wharf  revenue  in  I860, 


21 


that  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  City  reported  it  as 
not  exceeding  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  the  cost.  A  me- 
morial of  this  body  to  the  Legislature,  in  1865,  set  forth 
their  poor  construction  and  decaying  condition  in  the 
strongest  terms.  The  piers,  mostly  of  wood,  many  mere 
cribs  filled  in  with  loose  stone,  so  located  that  they  inter- 
rupt the  currents  of  either  river,  causing  deposits  from  the 
house  sewerage,  earthy  matter  and  garbage  from  street  gut- 
ters, travelling  through  main  sewers,  to  accumulate  in  many 
places  in  enormous  volume,  gradually  shallowing  the  water, 
and  compelling  the  frequent  and  expensive  use  of  the 
dredge.  This  often  caused  loss  and  serious  delay  to  ship- 
ping. 

Of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  piers  in  use  at  this  date, 
only  five  were  in  good  order.  Forty-nine  had  holes  in  the 
planking,  twenty-six  were  partly  settled,  seventeen  needed 
to  be  entirely  rebuilt,  and  forty-four  to  be  rebuilt  or  re- 
paired. 

The  year  after,  a  Committee  of  the  State  Senate  reported 
that  not  a  single  pier  owned  by  the  City,  unless  leased  by 
Steamboat,  Railroad  or  Ferry  Company,  was  commodious 
or  safe. 

This  was  one  of  the  first  subjects  taken  up  by  the  Citi- 
izens'  Association  soon  after  its  organization.  The  plan  of 
this  work,  and  the  great  and  patient  labor  with  which  it 
was  carried  forward,  was  due  to  Nathaniel  Sands.  He  fol- 
lowed up  the  work  of  the  Association  by  a  full  and  exhaus- 
tive investigation  of  the  whole  matter,  showing  by  indispu- 
table facts  that  the  commerce  of  the  West,  and  of  the  East- 
ern Continent  also,  was  seeking  the  harbor  of  New-York, 
and  that  if  proper  dock,  wharf  and  other  facilities  were 
given,  it  would  most  powerfully  aid  the  reviving  of  our 
commerce,  and  enrich  the  City  and  State.  Upon  these 
facts,  we  find  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  Legisla- 
ture even  have  relied,  and  have  been  confirmed  by  their 


22 


own  investigations,  which  have  resulted  at  last  in  best 
auguries  for  the  future. 

A  brief  statement  of  our  shipping  and  canal  interest  at 
that  date  will  show  its  magnitude,  and  the  imperative 
necessity  and  value  of  the  new  Dock  Board  created  by  the 
Act  of  1870.  At  that  time  (1866)  sailing  or  square-rigged 
vessels  had  began  rapidly  to  give  place  to  steam  propellers. 
We  had  then  one  hundred  and  fourteen  steamers  plying  to 
foreign  ports,  rated  at  225,000  tons ;  in  domestic  trade  we 
had  one  hundred  and  seventeen  steamers,  rated  at  135,000 
tons.  On  the  Hudson  Eiver  seventy-one  steamers  were 
plying,  many  of  them  towing  large  barges,  the  whole  bear- 
ing a  tonnage  nearly  equal  to  all  the  other  domestic  and 
foreign  steamers.  The  three  great  railways  could  also  daily 
bring  into  and  despatch  from  the  city  7,000  tons  of  freight. 

OUR  CANAL  INTEREST. 

The  first  legislative  Act  designed  specially  to  foster  the 
canal  interest  in  New-York  was  in  1  ?•  57,  when  a  small  space- 
on  the  East  River,  near  South  Ferry,  was  set  apart  for 
mooring  canal  boats  and  barges.  In  the  brief  period  of 
fifteen  years  prior  to  this,  the  canal  tonnage  had  risen  from 
nothing  to  nearly  one-half  that  of  the  whole  port.  In  1865 
this  tonnage  had  reached  the  enormous  sum  of  904,300 
registered,  and  an  actual  of  1,200,000  tons.  The  number 
of  boats  which  arrived  here  with  cargo  in  that  year  was 
7,244,  the  average  number  daily  needing  berths  275  to  300, 
and  the  records  at  Albany  showed  the  tons  of  freight  by 
boat  and  barge  to  New- York  that  year  to  be  2,418,942. 

This  canal  tonnage  paid  a  revenue  to  the  State  of  about 
$5,000,000.  This  interest,  so  vast  as  to  affect  the  people  of 
the  whole  State,  exceeding  half  the  commerce  of  the  port, 
and  requiring  Winter  berths  for  about  three  thousand 
boats,  had  for  its  special  use  only  seven  piers  of  the  entire 

/ 


23 


water  front  of  the  city.  Not  above  one-quarter  of  this 
ffreat  interest  could  find  commodious  and  safe  dock  room 

o 

in  the  space  provided.  Besides  this  the  waiting  for  berths 
and  the  want  of  proper  machinery  for  discharging,  and 
warerooms  in  the  vicinity  was  found  to  be  a  heavy  tax 
upon  every  ton  of  this  cargo.  The  amount  of  cargo  coming 
into  and  despatched  from  New-York  annually  by  railway, 
canal,  steamer  and  vessel  must  approximate  to,  if  not 
exceed,  fifteen  millions  of  tons.  If  $3  per  ton  could  be 
saved  in  handling  this  great  aggregate  by  proper  dock 
facilities  and  mechanism  on  our  water  front,  this  saving 
alone  would  be  a  sinking  fund  which  would  soon  extinguish 
the  cost  of  the  most  admirable  system  of  docks  for  New- 
York  in  the  world. 

THE  DOCK  BOARD. 

The  Act  passed  a  year  ago  creating  the  new  Dock  Board 
was  a  part  of  the  new  city  charter.  It  provided  for  the 
appointment  of  five  commissioners,  who  have  exclusive 
charge  arid  control  of  all  wharf  property  belonging  to  the 
city — wharfs,  piers,  bulkheads,  slips,  basins,  water-fronts, 
land  under  water,  appurtenances,  uses  and  rights  of  all  the 
city  now  owns  or  may  hereafter  acquire.  From  this  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund  except  the  twenty-five 
ferry  slips,  which  are  held  as  a  city  franchise. 

For  this  Board  Mayor  Hall  selected  five  men  of  the 
highest  ability  and  integrity  and  of  great  experience  in  busi- 
ness and  public  affairs,  and  above  all  suspicion,  it  is  believed, 
of  partisan  ambition.  He  deserves  credit  for  its  high  char- 
acter— a  board  which  is  to  devise,  construct  and  control 
the  most  important  work,  in  many  aspects,  on  the  continent. 
John  T.  Agnew,  its  President,  is  one  of  our  solid  citizens, 
for  over  thirty  years  a  merchant  in  the  export  tobacco  trade 
with  foreign  countries;  Wilson  Gr.  Hunt, -long  known  as 
an  able  and  high-toned  merchant  in  commission  dry  goods ; 


21 


William  Wood,  for  a  long  period  of  the  firm  of  Dennistoun 
&  Wood,  bankers,  and  one  of  the  most  competent  men  in  our 
Board  of  Education ;  Hugh  Smith,  proprietor  of  the  Madi- 
son Avenue  line  of  stages,  a  man  of  superior  capacity  and 
judgment  in  business ;  and  Richard  M.  Henry,  a  lawyer  of 
ability  and  good  standing.  Mr.  Smith,  from  pressure  of 
private  affairs  was  compelled  io  resign,  and  is  succeeded  by 
Mr.  Henry  A.  Smith,  a  man  of  high  integrity  and  excellent 
business  character.  The  Board  appointed  Major-General 
George  B.  McClellan,  its  Chief  Engineer,  who  is  devoting 
all  his  time  and  eminent  talents  to  the  work. 

In  eight  months  after  the  organization,  since  May,  1870, 
it  has  collected  rents  and  dockage,  and  paid  over  to  the 
Commissioner  of  the  Sinking  Fund  $261,361.  It  has  issued 
dock  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $500,000.  It  began  active 
work  about  the  15th  of  August  last,  and  has  expended 
since  then  $250,000.  A  new  system  of  piers  could  not  be 
begun  at  once,  but  only  after  the  most  careful  surveys  and 
well  matured  plans.  But  to  provide  for  our  shipping  ade- 
quate facilities,  while  it  continues  under  the  old  system,  it 
has  made  thorough  examination  of  every  pier  and  slip  on 
both  sides  of  the  city ;  it  has  made  thorough  repairs  of 
forty-five  piers  and  bulkheads,  in  many  cases  entirely  re- 
building them;  it  has  expended  $10,000  to  $50,000  in 
dredging  around  docks  and  in  slips  most  seriously  ob- 
structed ;  it  has  made  six  lines  of  soundings,  from  Ninety- 
second  Street  on  the  East  River  around  to  Sixtieth  Street 
on  the  Hudson  River,  and  for  two  months  past  has  had 
two  steam  machines  boring  through  the  mud  to  measure 
the  depth  of  the  hardpan,  along  the  entire  water  front  of 
the  city.  In  these  soundings  and  surveys  the  most  intri- 
cate points  connected  with  the  channels  and  currents  of  the 
rivers  have  received  careful  study. 

The  most  difficult  problems  have  been  solved,  a  complete 
map  of  the  water  front  has  been  made,  and  the  plans  of  the 


25 


Board  are  rapidly  maturing.  These  plans  cannot  yet  be 
made  public,  but  the  solidity  of  piers  and  the  method  of 
construction,  and  the  breadth  of  the  river  street,  as  fore- 
shadowed in  a  recent  speech  of  the  Mayor,  will  be  adequate 
to  the  transportation  of  freight  and  passengers  around  the 
whole  Island.  The  piers  will  have  an  average  length  of 
about  five  hundred  feet.  They  will  be  connected  with  the 
bulkhead  by  solid  iron  bridges,  leaving  an  open  space  along 
its  entire  front  for  the  free  flow  and  ebb  of  the  tide,  and  the 
piers  will  be  specially  adapted  to  the  business  for  which  they 
are  to  be  used.  The  large  steamers  will  have  piers  from 
eighty  to  one  hundred  feet  in  width,  with  all  the  facil- 
ities needed  for  landing  goods  rapidly;  and  passenger 
steamers  will  have  perfect  protection  for  passengers  from 
heat  or  storm. 

It  proposes  to  give  a  certain  section  of  water  front  to  the 
grain  trade,  and  also  a  certain  section  to  the  coal  trade, 
where  every  facility  will  be  given,  in  elevators  and  other 
machinery,  for  quick  receipt  and  despatch  of  cargo. 

The  system  of  hydraulic  machinery  and  power  used  in 
London,  or  its  like,  will  probably  be  adopted.  In  Liver- 
pool and  London  the  rise  and  fall  of  tide  is  from  twenty  to 
twenty-five  feet,  whereas  in  New-York  the  average  rise  and 
fall  is  only  four  to  five  feet.  Hence  our  system  will  be  far 
less  expensive.  We  need  no  such  provision  to  float  large 
vessels  and  steamers  into  our  docks  at  high  water. 

Under  our  old  system  of  piers  the  new  Board  have  no 
power  to  alter  the  wharfage,  but  of  the  new  piers  they  will 
have  entire  control  of  rates.  They  hold  the  opinion  that 
ships  should  pay  a  dockage  as  low  as  possible,  and  that 
goods  should  pay  a  moderate  wharfage,  as  in  Boston,  and 
thus  equalize  the  burden.  • 


26 


THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 


SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  ITS  MANAGEMENT. 


COMPARISON   OF  LOSSES. 

The  Fire  Department  in  the  greatest  commercial  City  of 
the  Continent,  where  immense  interests  of  capital,  trade, 
and  a  vast  population  are  centered  within  a  small  area,  is 
one  of  the  gravest  importance.  The  paid  system,  now  in 
successful  operation,  was  begun  in  the  spring  of  1865.  The 
old  system  had  then  out-lived  its  day,  especially  for  a  great 
city. 

The  Citizens'  Association  was  one  of  the  earliest  advo- 
cates of  the  paid  system.  The  bill  creating  it  was  drawn 
by  its  counsel.  The  Evening  Post  also  took  strong  ground 
in  its  favor,  and  a  brief  statement  of  facts  now  will  show 
the  wisdom  of  the  measure  and  its  intimate  connection  with 
the  vast  interests  of  real  estate,  merchandise,  and  the  moral 
well-being  of  the  city. 

FIRE  INSURANCE  CAPITAL. 

It  has  relation,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  large  sums  in- 
vested here  in  insurance  capital.  In  1860  the  amount  of 
home  and  foreign  capital  in  use  in  this  State — and  nine- 
tenths  of  it  was  used  in  the  City  of  New- York — was  thirty- 
two  millions.  The  income  of  this  capital  over  losses  and 
expenses  was  about  six  millions.  In  1870  there  were  fifty- 
one  millions  of  capital,  and  twelve  and  a  half  millions  of 
income  over  losses  and  expenses.  The  increasing  capital 
during  this  period  shows  the  growing  demand  for  insurance. 
While  capital  was  augmenting,  and  the  number  of  fires 
numerically  larger,  the  losses  under  the  paid  system  have 


27 


diminished,  and  the  ratio  of  income  to  amount  of  capital 
has  largely,  in  fire  insurance,  increased.  In  natural  growth 
of  insurance — increase  of  new  companies,  and  augmenting 
capital  in  old  ones,  the  competition  reduced  the  premium. 
But  the  efficiency  of  the  paid  Fire  Department  over  the  old, 
the  rapidity  and  unerring  certainty  of  its  action,  has  done 
far  more  to  reduce  rates  than  competition. 

The  effort  of  the  Citizens'  Association  to  change  the  old 
system  was  backed  by  all  the  underwriters  and  the  general 
public  sentiment  of  the  City.  Saving  property  in  fires  and 
the  reduction  of  the  aggregate  loss  in  each,  was  not  more 
important  than  breaking  up  the  practice  of  large  bodies  of 
lawless  youth  running  to  fires  with  the  volunteers.  The 
greater  the  fire,  the  more  intense  and  often  flagrant  were 
the  scenes  of  disorder.  So  strong  was  this  habit  when  the 
new  system  went  into  operation,  that  reckless  persons  often 
cut  the  hose  and  displaced  the  machinery.  But  the  new 
system  grew  steadily  into  favor,  and  in  less  than  two  years 
began  to  lessen  the  losses  and  rates  of  insurance.  The  tele- 
graph had  been  for  several  years  in  use  in  this  service,  but 
the  new  Telegraph  Alarm  added  about  a  year  ago  perfected 
the  system  and  gave  it  extraordinary  power, 

THE  PAID  ORGANIZATION. 

A  brief  statement  of  the  plan  of  the  organization  and 
description  of  this  machinery  will  show  their  great  value. 
The  bill  creating  the  system  provided  for  each  engine  house 
one  steam  fire  engine  with  two  horses,  and  one  tender  with 
one  horse,  to  carry  hose,  fuel  and  apparatus.  Each  of  these 
houses  has  a  company  of  twelve  men.  They  are  provided 
with  comfortable  lodgings  within  the  houses,  and  are,  night 
and  day,  in  constant  attendance,  except  when  at  meals, 
which  are  taken  near  at  hand.  It  provides  the  requisite 
hook  and  ladder  companies  of  twelve  men  each,  with  the 
same  quarters  and  regulations. 


28 


There  are  now  forty -five  engine  bouses  and  fifteen  trucks 
for  hook  and  ladder  use,  making  a  force  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty-five  horses  and  seven  hundred  and  twenty  men. 
There  are  five  commissioners,  who  control  the  department, 
a.  central  headquarters,  chief  engineer,  secretary,  medical 
officer,  telegraph  alarms,  bureau  of  combustible  materials 
and  fireman's  library.  To  these  officers  are  to  be  added 
ten  district  engineers  and  one-  chief-assistant,  who  devote 
their  entire  time  to  the  service. 

THE  FIRE  TELEGRAPH. 

The  system  of  the  telegraphy  in  use  is  the  patent  of 
John  N.  Gamewell,  but  the  machinery  to  carry  out  a  more 
perfect  system  for  this  city — the  batteries  and  automatic 
street  boxes — are  the  invention  and  patent  of  Mr.  Charles 
T.  Chester,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  electricians. 
Colonel  Stephen  Chester,  of  the  Potomac  Army  Engineers, 
directed  the  surveys  and  the  erection  of  the  lines  to  com- 
plete it.  The  entire  work— posts,  wires  and  machinery — 
cost  about  $600,000.  There  are  eighty-four  stations,  in- 
cluding engine  houses,  insurance  patrol  stations  and  officers' 
quarters,  to  which  to  send  messages,  and  five  hundred  and 
forty  street  boxes,  from  which  alarms  of  fire  may  be  sent 
to  the  central  office.  The  telegraph  alarm  apparatus,  under 
the  hand  of  a  good  operator,  works  with  a  rapidity  and 
certainty  before  unknown  in  electrical  apparatus.  It  con- 
sists in  brief  of  three  parts  : 

1.  A  receiving  apparatus,  which  has  the  capacity  to  re- 
ceive and  note  fifty-six  alarms  of  fire,  from  all  parts  of  the 
city,  at  one  and  the  same  time.  With  this  apparatus  the 
modern  hotel  annunciator  is  so  connected  that  it  instantly 
drops  a  figure,  showing  the  line  of  wire  over  which  the 
alarm  is  coming,  and  at  the  same  instant  marks  upon  a 
coil  of  paper  the  number  of  the  station.    Each  of  the  fifty- 


29 


six  wires,  which  together  cover  the  whole  city,  i Deludes  a 
given  number  of  stations,  and  it  required  great  skill  to  ar- 
range them  so  as  not  to  interfere  one  with  another,  since  a 
part  of  all  might  be  in  use  at  the  same  time.  Fifty-six 
pens,  moved  by  fifty-six  relay  magnets,  are  arranged  under 
this  coil  of  paper.  Each  pen  and  magnet  is  connected  with 
some  one  of  these  fifty-six  wires.  The  street  boxes  are  so 
arranged  that  when  an  alarm  is  to  be  sent  to  the  central 
office  the  current  of  electricity,  which  always  flows  through 
the  line,  may  be  broken  so  as  to  cause  the  discharge  of  any 
one  of  these  magnets.  This  works  four  results  in  the  re- 
ceiving apparatus  at  the  office,  namely — strikes  a  loud  gong 
or  bell,  throws  into  view  the  number  of  the  wire  on  which 
the  alarm  comes,  starts  the  register  wheel,  and  marks  the 
number  of  the  box  where  the  alarm  is  made. 

2.  A  transmitting  apparatus,  equally  beautiful,  instan- 
taneous and  perfect  in  its  work. 

3.  An  apparatus  for  testing  the  condition  of  all  these 
wires ;  for  discovering  at  once  in  the  office  any  break  or 
injury  within  a  few  yards  of  its  actual  locality ;  or  for  test- 
ing the  connection  of  any  of  these  lines  with  exterior  lines 
going  out  of  the  city. 

At  all  times,  night  and  day,  two  operators  are  on  duty 
at  the  central  office.  When  an  alarm  is  given  the  precise 
engines  and  trucks  which  should  answer  know  it.  If  the 
fire  spreads,  and  a  second  alarm  is  given,  those  who  should 
respond  know  it;  and  so  of  a  third,  which  brings  into  ac- 
tion all  the  force  that  can  possibly  be  required. 

RAPIDITY  OF  THE  SERVICE. 

The  horses  are  all  selected,  groomed  and  kept  in  the 
best  manner.  They  are  kept  in  sufficient  force  already 
harnessed,  and  so  surprising  is  their  instinct  and  admirable 
their  training,  when  the  electric  gong  strikes  in  the  engine- 


80 


house,  the j  back  instantly  from  the  stalls  into  position 
before  the  engine,  the  harness  is  clasped  by  springs,  the 
doors  are  flung  open  and  the  engine  starts  on  an  average  in 
twenty-two  seconds  after  the  alarm  is  received,  often  in 
eighteen.  An  alarm  reaching  the  central  office,  it  is  trans- 
mitted to  every  engine  house,  patrol  station  and  officers' 
quarters  all  over  the  city,  in  forty-five  to  fifty  seconds. 
Mr.  Charles  E.  Chapin,  superintendent  of  the  telegraph,  is 
thoroughly  versed  in  its  working,  and  most  assiduous  in  his 
devotion  to  the  perfection  of  the  system.  If  we  add  to  this 
instant  movement  and  rapidity  of  execution,  the  most  per- 
fect fire  apparatus  which  modern  science  and  skill  can 
devise,  the  unflagging  power  of  steam,  an  enlarged  and 
skillful  method  of  instructing  the  officers  and  men  in 
classes,  which  General  Shaler,  President  of  the  Board,  has 
personally  introduced,  the  effective  power  of  this  small 
force  stands  in  bold  relief  over  that  of  the  volunteers  when 
they  numbered  even  3,800  men. 

The  causes  which  elevate  and  give  a  higher  moral 
character  to  the  new  force  are  equally  effective.  The 
Lyceum,  in  the  hall  of  the  central  office,  now  contains  a 
valuable  library  of  six  thousand  volumes,  the  gift  of  under- 
writers and  private  citizens,  comprising  largely  choice 
biography,  travels,  history  and  practical  science,  from  which 
all  the  members  of  the  force  can  draw  and  use.  It  has 
been  selected  with  great  care  and  labor  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Board,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Gildersleeve,  whohas  worked  with 
constant  fidelity  for  the  good  of  the  service.  Dr.  Charles 
McMillan,  the  medical  officer  of  the  Board,  has  also  done 
much  to  this  end,  in  his  strict  examination  for  admission  to 
the.  force,  in  rejecting  men  of  bad  habits  or  physically  un- 
sound, and  in  maintaining  a  s\rstem  of  competitive  exami- 
nation for  promotion,  which  rests  on  merit  alone. 


81 


LOSSES  BY  FIRE. 

The  following  table  of  losses  by  fire  from  1866  to  1870 
shows  unmistakably  the  good  financial  results  of  the  system  : 

Ktiniber  of  Tires.  Loss. 

1866                                      796  $6,428,000 

1867                                      873  5,711,000 

1868..."                                 740  4,142,000 

1869                                      850  2,626,000 

Of  the  850  fires  in  1869  to  1870,  807  were  confined  to 
one  building,  showing  the  promptness  and  efficiency  of  the 
efforts  to  subdue  them. 

The  cost  of  maintaining  the  present  service  is  about 
$950,000  per  annum ;  a  sum  well  invested  when  we  com- 
pare it  with  the  immense  losses  to  which  we  are  exposed, 
and  keep  in  view  the  growing  intelligence,  manly  habits, 
and  pride  of  character  which  the  discipline  of  the  organi- 
zation most  sedulously  fosters.  It  is  most  favorable  when 
compared  with  the  service  and  cost  of  the  old  volunteer 
department.  The  direct  cost  of  that  per  annum  was  above 
$500,000,  but  the  indirect  expense  in  other  forms  was  proved 
before  a  Committee  of  the  Legislature  to  have  swelled  the 
sum  to  rising  $1,000,000.  The  above  table,  from  the  care- 
ful reports  of  the  Insurance  Department,  shows  a  reduction 
in  losses  from  1866  to  1869  of  $8,800.000 ;  and  the  losses 
in  1870,  since  the  new  charter  went  into  operation,  were 
$506,000  less  than  in  1869,  while  the  moral  and  effective 
character  of  the  force  has  improved  more  than  in  any  pre- 
vious period. 


DEPARTMENT    OF  TAXES. 

THE  TAX  COMMISSION. 

The  land  of  Manhattan  Island  is  about  fourteen  thousand 
acres.  Allowing  twelve  city  lots,  exclusive  of  streets,  to 
the  acre,  we  have  within  the  city  limits  one  hundred  and 


32 


sixty-eight  thousand  lots.  Deducting  fifteen  to  eighteen 
hundred  acres  for  the  parks  and  broader  avenues,  we  have 
left  for  building  purposes  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand.  Upon  these  it  is  estimated  there  have  been 
already  erected  ninety  six  thousand  buildings.  Of  those 
reconstructed  within  ten  years,  and  of  all  new  dwellings, 
stores,  or  public  edifices  erected  upon  vacant  lots  within 
this  period,  the  cost  of  structure,  in  both  space  and  solidity, 
has  been  increased  from  four  to  ten  fold, 

TAX  COMMISSION — IMPORTANCE  OF  ITS  WORK. 

The  valuation  of  the  real  and  personal  estate  of  the  city 
for  purposes  of  taxation  was,  in  1870,  $1,047,427,000.  As- 
suming that  this  is  on  the  average  but  little  above  fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  actual  cash  value,  we  have  in  the  City  of  New- 
York  in  real  and  personal  property  above  two  thousand 
millions,  and  if  the  personal  estate  were  as  easy  of  access 
and  estimate  as  the  real,  probably  a  sum  exceeding  the 
entire  national  debt. 

The  Tax  Commission,  which  is  to  value  this  immense 
and  increasing  aggregate  of  property,  and  whose  duty  it  is 
to  equalize  the  value  justly  with  respect  to  all  owners,  is 
one  of  the  highest  functions  of  our  government.  It  values 
property  to  provide  the  means  according  to  law  of  defray- 
ing the  public  expense.  This  is  the  gravest  function  next 
to  that  of  taking  life,  and  requires  the  most  equal  and  exact 
justice.  It  was  organized  in  1869  by  a  brief  law  providing 
for  the  appointment  of  four  Commissioners  by  the  Comp- 
troller of  the  city,  who  were  empowered  by  this  law  to  ap- 
point the  necessary  force  to  place  annually  upon  the  books 
of  their  office  a  fair  and  equal  valuation  of  the  property  of 
the  city. 


33 

ITS  METHOD  OF  VALUING  REAL  ESTATE. 

The  City  is  divided  into  sixteen  districts,  and  a  Deputy 
and  Clerk  appointed  to  each.  Deputies  and  Clerks,  with 
field-books  in  hand,  annually  spend  four  months — from 
September  1  to  January  1 — examining  every  building  or 
lot  within  their  districts ;  they  notice  all  lots  newly  filled 
or  improved  ;  all  stores  or  dwellings  erected  within  the  past 
3rear,  and  the  probable  cost ;  all  changes  which  tend  to  in- 
crease or  depreciate  the  rental,  all  buildings  reconstructed 
or  enlarged.  They  take  note  of  all  actual  cash  sales  and 
prices,  if  they  can  be  obtained.  They  record  the  block  and 
street  numbers,  and  when  the  tax  bill  is  made  out,  rely  on 
these  to  identify  the  property. 

Clean  copies  of  these  field  books  are  at  once  completed, 
and  the  books  are  advertised  to  be  open  to  the  inspection 
of  the  public  for  four  months,  from  early  in  January  to 
April  30.  The  Deputies  and  Clerks  are  in  daily  attendance 
during  this  entire  period,  to  give  information,  to  receive 
complaints,  and  to  refer  these  to  the  Commissioners,  if  de- 
sired. During  these  four  months  early  application  for  re- 
duction is  carefully  examined  by  the  Commissioners,  in 
consultation  with  competent  experts,  who  are  employed  for 
this  purpose. 

Whole  sections  of  the  different  districts  are  also  selected 
for  examination  by  these  expert*.  Their  minutes  are  kept 
for  the  use  of  the  Commissioners,  whenever  required  in  gen- 
eral consultation  before  the  close  of  the  books.  After  the 
books  are  closed,  they  also  receive  and  examine  with  equal 
care  the  applications  of  those  who  have  been  absent  or  were 
prevented  by  sickness,  up  to  the  time  the  books  go  into  the 
hands  of  the  receiver. 

In  over  four  thousand  applications  from  all  parts  of  the 
city  in  1870,  in  which  every  case  was  submitted  to  this 
careful  examination,  the  total  reduction  was  about  fourteen 
millions  and  a  half  ;  the  increase  one-half  million. 


34 


These  careful  valuations  every  y ear  are  a  matter  of  ne- 
cessity, from  the  fact  that  above  $40,000,0f  0  in  new  build- 
ings were  added  to  the  City  in  1870  ;  and  this  may  be 
equalled,  or  exceeded,  in  any  year  hereafter. 

PERSONAL  DEPARTMENT. 

The  method  of  dealing  with  personal  estate  is  equally 
laborious.  There  is  $75,000,000  of  banking  capital,  every 
share  and  shareholder  to  be  recorded.  There  are  nearly  one 
thousand  companies,  including  life,  fire,  marine  and  all 
others,  organized  under  the  mining  and  manufacturing  law 
of  the  State.  There  are  the  city  railroads,  the  great  railroad 
and  steamboat  companies,  which  have  their  offices  and 
much  of  their  business  here,  to  be  examined  and  assessed 
according  to  their  liability.  There  is  here  also  a  large 
amount  of  foreign  capital  invested  in  business.  There  is  a 
large  sum  in  estates  to  be  analyzed  and  vhe  just  liability  de- 
cided. New  corporations  and  new  firms  are  forming  and 
others  retiring.  Add  to  all  this  the  great  aggregate  of  res 
idents  and  non-residents  who  are  liable  to  a  personal  tax — 
the  changes  in  residence  and  in  fortune.  TheTax  Commis- 
sion durr  g  the  year  1870  added  seventy-five  hundred  names 
not  before  taxed,  and  the  Commission  assert  passed  upon 
seventy  thousand  names  without  a  single  claim  for  reduc- 
tion which  was  not  fairly  met. 


